


Nebulae [VID]

by bessyboo



Category: Hidden Figures (2016)
Genre: Download Available, Fanvids, Gen, Poetry, Science, Spoken Word, Video Format: MP4, Video Format: Streaming, space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-06 09:33:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12208551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bessyboo/pseuds/bessyboo
Summary: neb·u·la(neb'yə lə),n., pl.-lae, a cloud in outer space, visible against the night sky as a dark silhouette against other luminous matter.





	Nebulae [VID]

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CherryIce](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryIce/gifts).



> Runs 1:57. Audio is an untitled poem written & read by Georgia Bartlett-McNeil. Made for CherryIce for Fall Equinox 2017.
> 
>  **CONTENT NOTES:** physical triggers (bright flashes)  
>   
>   
> 

  
Password: _luminousmatter_  
[YouTube Link](https://youtu.be/LuajeyGAfJg) | [Rebloggable on Tumblr](http://ladybessyboo.tumblr.com/post/166154644269/nebulae-nebula-neby%C9%99-l%C9%99-n-pl-lae-a)

**1080p:** [Download](http://bessyboo.parakaproductions.com/My%20Vids/HiddenFiguresNebulae1080.zip) (ZIP, 166MB)  
**720p:** [Download](http://bessyboo.parakaproductions.com/My%20Vids/HiddenFiguresNebulae720.zip) (ZIP, 70MB)  
**SD:** [Download](http://bessyboo.parakaproductions.com/My%20Vids/HiddenFiguresNebulaeSD.zip) (ZIP, 44.5MB)  
  
Subs are included in the ZIP with each download.

**[Original Poem/Performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHm1sXT6Vz8)**  
_by Georgia Bartlett-McNeil_  
  
If the water reflects the sky—  
one giant, fluid mirror,  
ever effervescent and abstract in its dancing steps—  
I wonder if the reason we can never see the bottom  
is because it truly reflects everything.  
  
They say the sea is blue because the sky is blue,  
and when the sky is gray, the water is steel,  
and when the sun is red, the waves are blood like nebulae,  
forever shifting in their hue,  
in their rhythm,  
a seething spectral mass hiding who knows how many secrets.  
  
But on a clear day, it holds nothing hostage.  
It lays all bare for us to see.  
You cannot stop the light glistening off the waves,  
like sparks flying from the blunt end of a blacksmith's hammer,  
and I wonder if those sparks are the stars.  
The stars that are suns millions of miles away,  
visible only for a split second;  
the kind of moment that's only meant to stay a memory.  
  
Who know how long that light took to get here?  
How many wormholes and atmospheres did it bypass to get here?  
How long did it have to wait before it lived,  
and died, in this moment?  
And we were the last ones to witness it breathing.  
  
Maybe the reason why the bottoms of the oceans are so black  
is because the right star hasn't sent its light yet.  
Or maybe we're just waiting for it to reach us.  
Or maybe we're just too blind to see it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Cherry, I'm so glad you like this so much because it was definitely made SPECIFICALLY for you <3
> 
> I SWORE I was going to sit this round of Equinox out. I was TOO BUSY, I told myself. "Except what if you didn't, tho," said my brain. "What if you made a bunch of treats."
> 
> "ONE treat. I will make ONE treat," was my compromise. I had a whole list of possible ideas but then I saw Cherry's requests and I've been wanting to try working with spoken word and then I found this poem on YouTube and _did you know it is by[a WOC with a science degree](http://theglycoprotein.tumblr.com/about_me)??_ "Yes," I thought, "good."
> 
> I actually had a lot of fun making this one—I haven't done much before this working with video overlays, so it was fun to play with that and work it out visually. Big thanks to angelsaves & mardia for being alpha AND beta watchers and helping me work out the structure of the vid, and platinumvampyr for additional beta work.


End file.
